Part 5 · Deep dive
How does God save?
Grace, faith, works, the Spirit and the sacraments: where Christians agree and where they differ.
This is where Christians have disagreed most, so it is worth starting with the large common ground before looking at differences.
What all traditions affirm
Salvation is entirely by God's grace. It is through Christ alone. It is received by faith. It produces a transformed life of love and good works. No one earns it.
Grace
χάρις charis — grace, undeserved favor, gift
Grace is not only God's attitude of favor but also His active power working in us.
The early church
Augustine of Hippo · c. 420 · On Grace and Free Will
Against Pelagius, insisted that God's grace goes before the human will, enabling us to believe and do good; when God crowns our merits, He crowns His own gifts.
Faith and works: Paul and James
Paul: 'we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law' (Romans 3:28). James: 'we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone' (James 2:24). They answer different errors. Paul opposes earning salvation by works of the Law; James opposes a dead 'faith' that never acts. Both quote Abraham.
The Spirit's work
Jesus said we must be 'born again', born of water and the Spirit. The Spirit convicts, gives new birth, indwells, seals and transforms.
Baptism, the Lord's Supper and the church
The early church spoke of baptism as the 'washing of new birth' and the Eucharist as true participation in Christ's body and blood. How these relate to salvation is a key point of difference.
Where traditions differ
Orthodox
The sacraments (mysteries) are the ordinary means by which we are united to Christ and grow in theosis within the church.
Catholic
Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the gospel has been proclaimed (CCC 1257); the sacraments give the grace they signify.
Lutheran and Reformed
Word and sacraments are means of grace through which God gives and strengthens faith, though they hold different views on how.
Baptist and many evangelicals
Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances of obedience and remembrance; salvation is received by faith before baptism.
The early church
Cyprian of Carthage · c. 251 · On the Unity of the Church 6
'He can no longer have God for his Father who does not have the Church for his mother', stressing salvation within the communion of Christ's body.
Shared progress
In 1999 the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, affirming together that 'by grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit'. Methodists, Anglicans and Reformed churches later affirmed it too.
Key takeaways
- All agree: by grace, through Christ, received by faith, producing good works.
- Paul and James answer different errors and agree on living faith.
- Traditions differ on the role of the sacraments and the church.